Written Answers Monday 24 October 2005

Scottish Executive

Asylum Seekers

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it was first notified that the Vucaj family were to be removed from their Drumchapel home and what concerns it raised about the impact of the removal on the welfare of the children.

Robert Brown: We are in regular contact with the Home Office on a wide range of issues but it would be inappropriate to comment on the detailed circumstances in an individual case.

  Discussions are underway between the Executive and the Home Office on a protocol to ensure that future removals involving families with children are carried out in a sensitive and humane way and that Scottish children’s services are involved in advance of such removals.

Asylum Seekers

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish copies of communications it had with the Home Office in respect of the Vucaj family.

Robert Brown: No. The Executive does not publish details of our communications with the UK Government about individual cases.

Asylum Seekers

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish the protocol agreed between it and the Home Office in respect of children being held at Dungavel who are referred to the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration.

Robert Brown: There is an informal arrangement currently in place between the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA) and the Home Office through which SCRA will notify the Home Office when a referral is received involving a child from an asylum seeker family.

  We are considering the role of the SCRA as part of on-going discussions about the development of a protocol with the Home Office which will include clarifying the role of Scottish children’s services in future removals of asylum seeker families with children.

Crofting

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in light of the current workload of staff in the Crofters Commission and its Environment and Rural Affairs Department, it has any plans to increase or decrease staffing complements.

Rhona Brankin: There are no plans at present to make any significant changes to the current staffing complement in the Crofters Commission. However, it is the responsibility of the senior management of the commission to monitor resources - including staffing - to ensure that they are sufficient to meet the business needs of the organisation. There are no plans at present to make any significant changes to the current staffing complement in Scottish Environment and Rural Affairs Department (SEERAD).

  At present the Crofters Commission is staffed by Scottish Executive staff. The commission works closely with colleagues in ERAD, and there are opportunities for staff to move from the commission to ERAD, or elsewhere in the Scottish Executive, and vice versa. The Crofters Commission is bound by the same principles of open and fair recruitment as the Scottish Executive.

  Management of the unit based in Tiree (nine posts) will transfer from SEERAD to the Crofters Commission by the end of this year.

Crofting

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions have taken place between (a) its Environment and Rural Affairs Department and (b) the Crofters Commission and the Minister for Communities regarding the implications of the Housing (Scotland) Bill for the development of common grazings.

Rhona Brankin: There have been discussions between the Environment and Rural Affairs Department and the Development Department about provisions in the Housing (Scotland) Bill affecting landlords of housing tenancies and whether these should apply to landlords of crofts and agricultural holdings. These discussions have not involved the Crofters Commission and have not dealt with development of common grazings.

Crofting

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the draft Crofting Reform Bill will lead to an increase in types of crofting (a) landlord and (b) tenant.

Rhona Brankin: The bill is unlikely to have an impact on the type of landlord as every type of crofting landlord is already represented. There is likely to be an increase in the type of tenant given the provision in the draft bill enabling the creation of new crofts. This provision will provide additional opportunities and access for local people and new populations.

Crofting

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the geographical boundaries in which area-based policies will be applied under the draft Crofting Reform Bill have been delineated.

Rhona Brankin: The geographical boundaries of area-based policies have not been delineated and there are no plans to do this. The intention is that areas to which local policies apply will be defined by crofting communities and the draft Crofting Reform Bill is worded to allow for this. The process will be driven by crofting communities rather than central direction.

Dentistry

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of total health expenditure has been spent on independent dental practitioners from (a) cash limited and (b) non-cash limited expenditure in each year since 2001.

Lewis Macdonald: The following table provides the requested information:

  

 
 2004-05
 2003-04
 2002-03
 2001-02


% of NHS Scotland expenditure, excluding community care: discretionary expenditure
 0.015%*
 0.009%
 0.010%
 0.007%


 % of NHS Scotland expenditure, excluding community care: demand-led expenditure
 2.499%*
 2.641%
 2.804%
 2.825%



  Note: *Percentage based on provisional figures.

  These figures exclude expenditure on salaried dental practitioners.

Dentistry

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has carried out a study into the feasibility of using non-cash limited expenditure for independent dental practitioners.

Lewis Macdonald: General Dental Practitioners item of service fees and allowances are already paid from the general dental services budget which is demand-led.

Drug Misuse

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time is for patients who wish to enter into a methadone maintenance treatment programme, broken down by (a) NHS board area, (b) local authority area and (c) parliamentary constituency.

Hugh Henry: Average waiting times are not regarded as a particularly effective measure of the availability and efficiency of drug services. Rather, the information compiled by Drug Action Teams and submitted to ISD specifies the number of people who wait for less than a week, less than two weeks and so forth, for different types of intervention, including prescribed drug treatment. Table 1 presents information on the length of time waited, by Drug Action Team area, for (a) clients who have received prescribed drug intervention and (b) clients who are still waiting for prescribed drug intervention, for the period January – March 2005, the most recent period for which comprehensive data is available.

  Table 1a: Prescribed Drug Treatment – Number of Clients Seen, January to March 2005

  

Time WaitedDrug Action Team
<7 d
 8-14 d
 15-21 d
 22-28 d
 5-8 wks
 9-12 wks
 13-26 wks
 27-52 wks
 52+ wks
 Total


 Aberdeen City
 19
 5
 1
 0
 1
 0
 0
 0
 0
 26


 Aberdeenshire
 1
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 1


 Angus
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0


 Argyll and Clyde
 32
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 32


 Ayrshire/Arran
 20
 6
 6
 0
 2
 0
 0
 0
 0
 34


 Borders
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0


 Dumfries and Galloway
 26
 6
 0
 2
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 34


 Dundee City
 7
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 7


 East Lothian
 28
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 28


 Edinburgh City
 25
 1
 4
 0
 4
 0
 3
 0
 0
 37


 Fife
 86
 7
 4
 2
 4
 0
 3
 0
 0
 106


 Forth Valley
 4
 2
 2
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 8


 Glasgow
 83
 6
 1
 4
 3
 0
 0
 0
 0
 97


 Highland
 7
 2
 0
 1
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 10


 Lanarkshire
 22
 4
 2
 2
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 30


 Midlothian
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 Moray
 8
 6
 0
 1
 2
 0
 0
 0
 0
 17


 Orkney
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0


 Perth/Kinross
 3
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 3


 Shetland
 7
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 7


 West Lothian
 51
 6
 3
 2
 0
 0
 0
 1
 0
 63


 Western Isles
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0


 Scotland
 429
 51
 23
 14
 16
 0
 6
 1
 0
 540



  Table 1b: Prescribed Drug Treatment – Number of Clients Waiting at end of Quarter, January to March 2005

  

Time WaitedDrug Action Team
<7 d
 8-14 d
 15-21 d
22-28 d
 5-8 wks
 9-12 wks
 13-26 wks
 27-52 wks
52+ wks
 Total


 Aberdeen City
 1
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 10
 5
 
 16


 Aberdeenshire
 0
 0
 0
 0
 1
 0
 0
 0
 
 1


 Angus
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 
 0


 Argyll and Clyde
 1
 1
 0
 0
 1
 3
 2
 18
 
 26


 Ayrshire/Arran
 0
 1
 0
 0
 3
 6
 6
 9
 
 25


 Borders
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 
 0


 Dumfries and Galloway
 1
 0
 2
 1
 1
 1
 12
 0
 
 18


 Dundee City
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 1
 
 1


 East Lothian
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 1
 
 1


 Edinburgh City
 2
 1
 1
 3
 10
 1
 5
 10
 
 33


 Fife
 1
 0
 1
 0
 0
 0
 3
 11
 
 16


 Forth Valley
 1
 4
 2
 3
 4
 3
 29
 43
 
 89


 Glasgow
 1
 1
 0
 0
 4
 4
 17
 13
 
 40


 Highland
 1
 1
 0
 2
 1
 8
 14
 32
 
 59


 Lanarkshire
 0
 0
 0
 0
 1
 2
 5
 2
 
 10


 Midlothian
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 Moray
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 
 0


 Orkney
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 
 0


 Perth/Kinross
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 
 0


 Shetland
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 
 0


 West Lothian
 1
 0
 2
 0
 4
 1
 6
 4
 
 18


 Western Isles
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 
 0


 Scotland
 10
 9
 8
 9
 30
 29
 109
 149
 
 353



  Notes:

  d: days.

  wks: weeks.

  1. Prescribed drug treatment includes detoxification, maintenance or reduction programmes, and is defined as the prescribing of a substitute drug, (e.g. methadone, lofexidine, subutex) for facilitating the complete cessation of the use of illicit drugs, controlling withdrawal symptoms or reducing illicit drug use. GP prescriptions are not included in this data.

  2. The waiting time is measured from the date a decision is made regarding what is the appropriate treatment for the client to the first date offered for beginning the treatment.

  3. There is a wide range of demand for substance misuse services across Scotland, and to meet this demand, an equally variable set of practices across the country. In some ADAT areas, the impact of a single specialized service - for example, a crisis management centre - may dramatically alter the distribution of waiting times. Consequently, to compare data across ADATs is risky and potentially inappropriate. These tables are intended to help ADATs monitor and manage performance in their own areas over a period of time.

Drug Misuse

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the ratio is of people wishing to enter a methadone maintenance treatment programme to places available.

Hugh Henry: This information is not held centrally. Decisions on treatment interventions and options for addressing other needs are for individual patients and their medical and social professionals. The number of people entering methadone maintenance treatment depends on identified need in conjunction with system capacity.

Drug Misuse

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many therapeutic communities there are.

Hugh Henry: We do not collect any information on drug services using this definition, which is not commonly used in Scotland.

Drug Misuse

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are classified as drug addicts.

Hugh Henry: There is no central register of problem drug misusers in Scotland.

Information Technology

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2O-7549 by George Lyon on 15 September 2005, who the members of the open source software working group are and how they were selected.

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2O-7549 by George Lyon on 15 September 2005, what the remit is of the open source software working group.

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive when the open source software working group will next meet and what items will be on its agenda.

George Lyon: The members of the Open Source Software Working Group are noted in the following table.

  

 Name
 Position
 Organisation


 Anne Moises (chair)
 Director of IT
 Scottish Executive


 Jim Buist
 Service Delivery Manager, e-Government Strategy
 Glasgow City Council


 Open Source Software Group
 Society of Information Technology Management


 Nick Hine
 Lecturer
 Division of Applied Computing, University of Dundee


 Andy Judson
 Research Assistant
 Division of Applied Computing, University of Dundee


 Lois MacFadyen
 Head of e-Government and Take Up Team
 Scottish Executive


 Jonathan Moore
 Head of Shared Services and Funds Team
 Scottish Executive


 Craig Russell
 Head of Efficient Government Delivery Division
 Scottish Executive


 Andy Wallace
 Information Services Manager
 General Register Office for Scotland



  The group was selected to provide a range of viewpoints from the public and academic sectors and consider open source software issues for the wider Scottish public sector.

  The remit of the group is to:

  consider the wider implications for Scotland of the Office of Government Commerce report on the trials of Open Source Software in Government and develop a policy statement for Scotland;

  examine the role which open source and free software could play in current and future projects across the Scottish public sector e.g. in support of shared services;

  determine the practicalities of introducing open source and free software through examining the technical and business case for implementation and identifying case studies, and

  assess the potential efficiency savings which might be realised if the Scottish public sector were to adopt open source and free software.

  The group’s first meeting was held on 14 October 2005. The agenda is noted below.

  1. Aims of the group.

  2. Composition of the group.

  3. Frequency of meetings.

  4. Dissemination of papers.

  5. Agree Terms of Reference.

National Health Service

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many wards have been closed at weekends in each hospital due to staff shortages in each year since 1999.

Mr Andy Kerr: The information on the number of ward closures at weekends due to staff shortages is not held centrally.

  NHS boards are responsible for the provision of services in their local area to meet identified need. This includes the configuration of hospital services.

  There has been a continued increase in NHS staffing since 1999 are there are now an extra 456 consultants, 3,781 qualified nurses and midwives and an extra 1,366 qualified associated health care professional staff working in NHS Scotland.

National Health Service

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients from outside the NHS Greater Glasgow area were treated within the board area in each year since 1999.

Mr Andy Kerr: Information on non-resident patients treated in NHS Greater Glasgow is shown in the following table.

  Hospital In-Patient and Day Cases and New Out-Patient Attendances in NHS Greater Glasgow for Patients Resident Outside the Board Area1

  

 
 Year


 1999
 2000
 2001
 2002
 2003
 2004P


 Hospital In-Patient and Day Cases
 
 
 
 
 
 


 Acute Specialties
 
 
 
 
 
 


 Patients
 38,362
 37,921
 37,994
 36,790
 35,607
 33,822


 Discharges2
 67,209
 67,939
 67,890
 65,823
 68,339
 66,817


 Mental Health Specialties
 
 
 
 
 
 


 Patients
 312
 269
 299
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a


 Discharges2
 350
 309
 352
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a


 Maternity Specialties
 
 
 
 
 
 


 Deliveries3
 1,774
 1,785
 1,667
 1,976
 2,595
 2,468


 Out-Patients
 
 
 
 
 
 


 New Attendances
 57,739
 58,571
 55,752
 56,429
 55,260
 54,657



  PProvisional.

  Source: ISD Scotland, Scottish Morbidity Records (SMRs) 00, 01, 02 and 04, ISD Linked Database.

  Notes:

  n/a: Not available due to problems extracting data from a new computer system. These issues are now being resolved and data has begun being returned to ISD Scotland.

  1. Includes residents from England, Wales, Northern Ireland and outside the UK.

  2. Discharges are a count of episodes of care rather than individual patients and include transfer episodes. A patient may have several discharges in any year or across years.

  3. For maternity specialties, patients with more than one delivery in a calendar year are counted only once.

Tribunals

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which administrative tribunals are devolved and subject to the competence of the Parliament; how many people have had applications heard by them in each year since 1999; what financial and other resources were made available to each tribunal, and what plans the Executive has to improve the public service provided by each tribunal.

Cathy Jamieson: Available information is shown in the following tables. Table 1 lists tribunals and similar bodies operating in the devolved area; Table 2 shows cases heard by each tribunal; Table 3 provides information about financial and other resources made available to tribunals.

  There are a number of initiatives in train aimed at improving the public service provided by tribunals. In addition to the creation of the Additional Support Needs Tribunals and the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland, there are plans to improve and modernise the Children’s Hearing system and there is a possible expansion of the role of Rent Assessment Panels. More generally, the Justice Department has maintained close contact with the Department for Constitutional Affairs on plans for the creation of the new Tribunals Service which includes a number of reserved tribunals operating in Scotland and will carefully consider whether further improvement of the devolved tribunal system is indicated.

  Table One: Scottish Tribunals Operating in the Devolved Area

  

Additional Support Needs Tribunal¹


 Children’s Panels


 The Crofters Commission


 The Dairy Produce Quotas Tribunal


 Education Appeal Committees


 Forestry Commission Regional Advisory Committees


 Health Board Discipline Committees


 The Independent Schools Tribunal


 The Lands Tribunal for Scotland


 Meat Hygiene Appeals Tribunal


 The Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland


 The National Appeal Panel


 National Health Service Tribunal


 Parole Board for Scotland


 Rent Assessment Panel for Scotland


 Valuation Appeal Committees



  Note:

  1. Commences November 2005.

  Table Two: Number of Cases Heard per Annum

  

 
 1999
 2000
 2001
 2002
 2003
 2004


 Additional Support Needs Tribunal
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a


Children’s Panels1,2
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 5,809
 5,793


 The Crofters Commission
 11
 17
 8
111
181
131


 The Dairy Produce Quotas Tribunal
 nil
 nil
 nil
 nil
 nil
 nil


 Education Appeal Committees3
 704
 697
 767
 830
 n/a
 n/a


 Forestry Commission Regional Advisory Committees
 0
 2
 2
 3
 0
 0


 Health Board Discipline Committees
 2
 29
 5
 3
 0
 0


 The Lands Tribunal for Scotland4
 442
 459
 315
 92
 178
 139


 The Independent Schools Tribunal
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0


 Meat Hygiene Appeals Tribunal
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0


 The Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a


 The National Appeal Panel
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a


 National Health Service Tribunal
 1
 1
 0
 1
 0
 2


 Parole Board for Scotland Tribunals
 40
 38
 47
 173
 215
 189


 Rent Assessment Panel for Scotland
 228
 90
 400
 54
 106
 242


 Valuation Appeal Committees
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a



  Notes:

  1.Financial Year Totals.

  2. Data is not available prior to roll out of the SCRA referrals administration database in 2003.

  3. School Year Totals.

  4.Figures include cases withdrawn or formally dismissed.

  Table 3: Financial and Other Resources Made Available to Devolved Tribunals

  

 
1999-20001
2000-011
2001-021
2002-031
2003-041
2004-051


 Additional Support Needs Tribunal
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a


Children’s Panels2
£12.9m
£14.4m
£16.8m
£17.7m
£21.5m
£23.5m


 The Crofters Commission
£2.5m
£2.6m
£2.8m
£2.6m
£2.4m
£2.5m


 The Dairy Produce Quotas Tribunal
 nil
 nil
 nil
 nil
 nil
 nil


Education Appeal Committees3
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a


 Forestry Commission Regional Advisory Committees
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a


Health Board Discipline Committees4
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a


 The Independent Schools Tribunal
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a


 The Lands Tribunal for Scotland
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a


 Meat Hygiene Appeals Tribunal
 nil
 nil
 nil
 nil
 nil
 nil


 The Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a


 The National Appeal Panel
£6,000
£15,000
£11,000
£22,000
£24,000
£50,000


National Health Service Tribunal5
£5,179
£9,396
£617
£8,470
£265
£7,136


Parole Board for Scotland6
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


Rent Assessment Panel for Scotland
£176,000
£234,000
£209,000
£229,000
£209,000
£196,000


 Valuation Appeal Committees
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a
 n/a



  Notes

  1. Does not include cost of general administrative support from Scottish Executive officials.

  2. Does not include local authority expenditure or resources for youth justice teams, electronic monitoring and secure accommodation.

  3. Costs are met by education authorities.

  4. Costs subsumed in general health board expenditure.

  5. Calendar Year totals.

  6. Financial information is contained in the board’s annual reports.